This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, more particularly to combustors used with gas turbine engines.
Known turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air which is suitably mixed with a fuel and channeled to a combustor wherein the mixture is ignited for generating hot combustion gases. At least some known combustors include an inner liner that is coupled to an outer liner such that a combustion chamber is defined therebetween. Additionally, an outer support is coupled radially outward from the outer liner such that an outer cooling passage is defined therebetween, and an inner support is coupled radially inward from the inner liner such that an inner cooling passage is defined therebetween.
Within at least some known recuperated gas turbine engines, cooling requirements of turbines may create a pattern factor requirement at the combustor that may be difficult to achieve because of combustor design characteristics associated with recuperated gas turbine engines. More specifically, because of space considerations, such combustors may be shorter than other known gas turbine engine combustors. In addition, in comparison to other known gas turbine combustors, such combustors may include a steeply angled flowpath and large fuel injector spacing.
Accordingly, at least some known combustors include a dilution pattern of a single row of dilution jets to facilitate controlling the combustor exit temperatures. The dilution jets are supplied cooling air from an impingement array of openings extending through the inner and outer supports. However, because of cooling considerations downstream from the combustor and because of the limited number and relative orientation of such impingement and dilution openings, such combustors may only receive only limited dilution air from such openings.